With the firenation retreating and Azula defeated, Zuko regroups with the rest of his team avatar at the foot of the wall. Toph earthbends a platform of stone up the side of the wall as Zuko approaches Aang with a saddened expression on his face. "Do you know how to fix a glider staff?" He asks before clicking the mechanism inside the staff and unfolding the wings, Aang's eyes widen in horror seeing the burned wing. "Azula shot it with lightning when I was trying to escape. I'm sorry." He says as he gives Aang the staff back. "Wait, aren't the wings made of silk? We could try to find some in the city." Katara says and the hopeful tone in her voice improves the airbender's mood. As the platform reaches the top of the wall, Zuko is greeted by the sight of his uncle with a sour look on his face. Part of him fears the lecture he's going to receive from his uncle but the old general sighs and shakes his head.

"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Iroh says as Zuko approaches him. "You never think these things through. You knew it was a trap but you still walked right into it." He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath and letting his anger fade. "I understand why you did it, but you could have at least been honest with us and we would have come as back up so you wouldn't have been captured in the first place."

"I know, but I needed to make sure she was safe." Zuko replies before he's hugged by his uncle. "Mai and I are... no longer together. Azula forced us to break up."

"It's going to be alright Zuko." Katara says, rubbing her hand on his shoulder. "You'll find the right girl someday, hopefully when the war is over you'll find her."

"Thanks Katara," Zuko responds but his voice sounds empty and dejected. "Everyone alright?" He asks, shifting his attention between his group and the earthbenders on the wall.

"More than alright, Avatar Zuko. On behalf of the Earth king, we thank you." General Sung says with a polite bow, followed by the rest of his men copying the gesture. "I apologize for the hostilities, General Iroh."

"Apology accepted, General Sung. Had the rolls been reversed, it's likely that I would have reacted the same way." Iroh replies, bowing to the general. "However, going forward, I ask that you refer to my nephew as Avatar Lee and myself as Mushi. I don't believe the refugees or veterans of my invasion would look kindly on us should they know our true identities."

"Very well," General Sung nods, "Avatar Lee. I'd like to offer you an invitation to a ball held by the earth king at the end of the week. There you will get acquainted with the nobility of our great city and meet with my colleagues." General Sung offers, handing Zuko a sealed invitation with the mandala of Ba Sing Sei on the front in wax. "Speak with Joo Dee, she has been instructed to bring you to your home in the upper ring of the capital. She's waiting for you in the upper ring train station."

"Thank you for your hospitality, General Sung." Zuko says before bowing to the man, prompting him to return the gesture.

"No, thank you for saving Ba Sing Sei." The general replies before motioning for a couple of his troops to escort team avatar down to the train station. "Before you go. Do not speak about the war. To anyone."

After an awkward silence passes Zuko motions for them to just get on to Appa and not ask any further questions. Appa himself is less than enthused to start flying again considering that the men on the wall had been feeding the ten ton bison. All it takes is a bit of bribery from Sokka and being offered a watermelon when they land for Appa to finally agree to allow them into the saddle. "Why do you have to bribe him every time we have to fly?" Zuko asks as he jumps up into the saddle and flops down at the front end. "Because he doesn't listen to me otherwise." Sokka responds as he helps Yue climb up Appa's tail. "I think he does it intentionally because he knows you'll give him treats." Zuko responds, causing Appa to groan in response. "I think that's Appa saying that You're right." Aang replies, causing Sokka to fold his arms indignantly with a sour look on his face.

Looking down at the city, an unspoken question hangs in the air. Why are they not allowed to talk about the war? That was the whole reason they were here in the first place. Something didn't feel right about this, and Aang, Iroh and Zuko can feel it. It's as if the entire city felt tense, even looking down from Appa the city beneath them feels intimidating. "I have a bad feeling about this." Zuko says aloud, though it was directed more towards himself rather than the others. "You feel it too?" Aang asks, turning to face him. "Something about this place rubs me the wrong way. The monks said it's completely different to how we lived."

"I think you two have battle fatigue." Sokka pipes up, "I mean we did just take down a big ass metal caterpillar trying to bore a hole through the wall of the city." This statement is accented by the young warrior taking a piece of jerky from his snack bag and plopping it into his mouth. "Once we land we'll get a tour, a nice place and we can finally relax before that party."

"You say that but Zuko only got one invitation." Yue says, causing Sokka to nearly choke on the jerky.

"It doesn't take a village to deliver a message." Zuko replies before reaching over and grabbing something to snack on as well. "Sokka I thought you of all people would be more on edge about this place."

"Yeah if we were anywhere else in the earth kingdom I would be, but we're in the last place untouched by the war. We'll be fine, I think you two are just on edge." Sokka responds nonchalauntly, the watertribe warrior runs his fingers through his wife's hair as she lies in his lap.

"If you say so." Aang replies, though Zuko can tell that the airbender is upset about something.

The upper ring of Ba Sing Sei looks as if it's made from ivory, emeralds and gold. Pristine white buildings accented by beautiful plants and shaded by emerald and golden roofs dot the landscape. Gentle water flows freely and cleanly through the canals that snake about the lavish homes and businesses. The train station is shaded by a massive emerald shingled roof with accents of gold running the trims. Aang brings Appa down for a landing just outside the large marble pillars that support the massive building. With a thud, Appa lands in a less than enthusiastic manner startling a few of the locals who've never seen a skybison before. Yue is the first person to spot her, and the unnatural smile on the woman's face sends a shiver down Yue's spine. Long silky brown hair is swept just over her right eyebrow as her long bangs frame her face. A large flat dark green hair pin sits perpendicular with her head sticking out from behind her hair. Her perfect makeup, pristine white teeth and wide smile give off an uncanny valley feeling about this woman. Her petite but mature frame is garbed in a fine yellow-green colored silk.

"Greetings, my name is Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se." The woman speaks, and both Zuko and Toph can instantly tell that something is off about this woman. "I have been given the great honor of escorting Avatar Lee around our wondrous city." She continues, her non-blinking expression and perfect smile has Zuko on edge about her. "You must be Mushi, Katara, Aang, Yue, Sokka and Toph. Shall we get started on our tour?" She asks, her cadence and annunciation are almost perfect. Behind him, Zuko feels Toph grab his hand and this action from her raises red flags in his mind about their tour guide.

"I don't suppose we can bring Appa along can we?" Aang asks, gesturing to the sky bison behind them.

"Oh, where are my manners? I completely forgot about your fluffy friends. If you'll have him follow us, I can bring you to your new home here in the upper ring. It has a stable more than big enough for him to be comfortable there." Joo Dee replies politely, "Shall we begin the tour?"

"Sssssuuuure." Zuko replies, arching his eyebrow, continuing to study the strange demeanor of their guide.

"I'll fly Appa slowly over you guys until we get to the house." Aang says as he separates from them and walks back towards Appa.

"Great. If you will follow me, I have an ostrich-horse and carriage waiting for you all." Joo Dee says as she turns so elegantly on her feet that her dress isn't disturbed as she appears to glide across the marble floor. Zuko allows her and the others to get a few paces ahead of them, still feeling Toph hold his hand.

"You alright? I've never seen you this uneasy." Zuko says as she lets go of his hand. "There's something off about her, it feels... manufactured." He continues.

"That's something we can agree on, Sparky." Toph replies, and Zuko notices that even her voice is a little uneasy after the encounter with that woman. "Normally when people meet you their heart rates speed up because they're excited or nervous. Her's didn't. It kept beating at the same slow pace, so slowly that it didn't feel human." She taps his hand to mimic it. Tap tap... Tap tap... Tap tap... Tap tap... one beat every couple of seconds. "Her heartbeat feels like she's asleep."

"Anything else off about her?" He asks, as the two begin walking towards the carriage. "I know you couldn't see it, but she didn't blink at all." Toph looks at him with a confused expression, trying to find the words to string together. "I mean, you're blind and you still blink, but seeing that in that lady is just creepy." Toph remains silent for a few moments as they get nearer and nearer to the carriage. As they're about to get inside she grabs the hem of his shirt and whispers into his ear. To an onlooker, it merely looks like she's grabbing onto him for a bit of help to get up into the carriage.

"We're being watched." She whispers as Zuko helps her up into the seat beside Katara. "Don't look for them." She says as she gets past him and into the carriage. "Four men. I can tell they have stones covering their hands." Zuko doesn't reply, instead he gets up into the carriage before shutting the door.

Looking out the windows of the carriage, Zuko attempts to drown out the constant babbling coming from Joo Dee. Beside him, Toph shifts nervously in her seat. She even shifts closer to Zuko for some sort of reassurance from the strangeness of it all. Deciding to help take her mind off of what's going on, Zuko reaches into his robes and dislodges the pearl dagger from its sheath before using his earthbending to remove the blade from the handle. He compresses the pearl blade into a perfect sphere before handing it to Toph. She accepts the gesture from him, being able to bend is helping calm her nerves. It isn't long before they reach the beautiful house that was awarded to them after they took down the drill. Aang lands Appa behind the gold shingled house before the group takes all their bags and supplies off of Appa's saddle and brings it inside to get settled in. All the while, Joo Dee is watching attentively with the ever present smile plastered on her face.

After boarding the carriage with everyone together now, Joo Dee instructs the driver to continue their tour through the city. Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko watches Aang creep his hand closer and closer towards Katara's hesitant of actually making contact. Looking up, Zuko makes eye contact with Aang before a smirk grows on the firebender's face. Slowly he lifts his left hand and extends his pointer finger outwards. Aang can see Zuko doing these small movements and his expression pleads with Zuko to not do what he think the firebender is gonna do. Zuko's smirk grows into a grin as he flicks his finger to the side, bending the air around Aang and Katara's hands. The motion jerks Katara's hand into Aang's, causing the young airbender to blush furiously at holding Katara's hand. His red face is a mix of anger and embarrassment mostly directed at Zuko. He's so flustered that he doesn't realize that Katara had clasped his hand in hers. It isn't until Zuko points at their hands does Aang finally see what Katara is doing and his embarrassment only grows. Sokka arches an eyebrow seeing Zuko try to hold back a smile by biting his cheek. Following Zuko's line of sight, Sokka has to stop himself from bursting out laughing at the predicament that his sister and Aang find themselves in. The sign out front reads "Shoma's Tea House."

"Would you look at that?" Iroh says pointing to a passing building, a brisk walk away from their little home. "That tea house has gone out of business, it's even for sale." He says causing Zuko to arch an eyebrow over at the building before looking at his uncle. "Madam Joo Dee? May we stop the tour for a moment so I can see what they're asking for at the tea shop?"

"Certainly." Joo Dee responds before sliding open the window behind her and speaking to the driver. "Would you kindly, please turn around and head to the tea shop that's for sale?" The man nods to her request before halting the ostrich horses and having them turn around. Coming to a stop just in front of the doors, Iroh gets out followed by Zuko and Toph who just wanted to get away from Joo Dee for a moment.

The trio approach the empty tea house with Iroh being the first to walk up to the closed doors and knock a couple times. He takes a couple steps back and waits patiently for anyone to open the doors and to his relief an elderly woman answers and slowly opens the doors to the lonely tea house. "I hadnt expected any visitors today." The woman says, and it's evident that she's a fair bit older than Iroh, probably by two decades at least. "What brings you by today, young man?" She asks, before putting on a pair of spectacles to get a better look at Iroh. "I saw the for sale sign out front and wanted to ask what price you had for this wonderful tea shop." Iroh replies, causing the old woman to squint at him for a moment trying to get a better look before taking off her spectacles and cleaning them with her silk robes. "Well... I wanted a few thousand gold for it. I've run this shop for many years, but my age has caught up with me now and I can't keep up with the demand anymore. Selling it is the best thing I can do now, and I can finally retire and live with my children."

"I've wanted to own a tea shop for a very long time, and perhaps we can strike a deal on this lovely place." Iroh says and Zuko immediately knows where this is going. He laughs to himself and shakes his head before untying the bag of crystals from the cave of two lovers. "I'd like to purchase this tea house from you, and I can pay for it in diamonds from the cave of two lovers." Zuko dumps a third of the contents of the bag into his hand before offering the bag to his uncle.

"The cave of two lovers?" The woman asks, prompting Iroh to nod. "I think you may be overpaying for this place deary. Just one of those diamonds could buy out this district." She says.

"Then how about this, we give you some of the glowing diamonds, and let's say... 10% of what we make each week. You'll have plenty of income to live comfortably on." Zuko pipes up, which surprises Iroh. "Do we have a deal? Miss Shoma?"

"Alright my dear boy, you have a deal." Shoma replies and Zuko extends his hand forwards and places the handful of diamonds he had into her palm. The old woman pulls out her spectacles again and holds up one of the soft light blue diamonds so she can see it. "With this many, my grandchildren will likely not have to work a day in their lives." She says as she tucks the diamonds into her robes before motioning for them to follow her inside. It takes her a few minutes to find the deed to the building but when she does, the transfer of ownership is as simple as signing Iroh's and Zuko's names at the bottom of the page.

As Iroh Zuko and Toph exit their new tea house, Iroh wraps his arm around Zuko's shoulder and hugs him. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Zuko." He says as a tear drips from his eye. "I'm very proud of you." He says as they come to a stop.

"Thanks... Dad."